1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fuel pump assemblies, and more particularly to fuel pump assemblies including an electric motor and a circuit board for generating a current to power the electric motor.
2. Related Art
With the introduction of electronic control systems for electric motors, the automobile industry objectives of long life, reliability and low electro-magnetic (EM) interference for fuel pump assemblies have become achievable. This is in part due to the advent of brushless direct current (BLDC) motor technology. Typical BLDC motors include a stator with a plurality of windings and a rotor with a plurality of permanent magnets. Manipulation of the current applied to the windings generates an electromagnetic field, which acts on the permanent magnets to rotate the rotor. While known BLDC motor designs have achieved many objectives, problems still exist. For instance, most BLDC motor designs include copper wires connecting the BLDC motor to a circuit board or some other type of controller, and those wires could corrode if exposed to fuel. Additionally, assembly of fuel pump assemblies with BLDC motors may be laborious and costly.